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Did Simon Marius Observe Jupiter's Satellites on January 8, 1610?

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Did Simon Marius Observe Jupiter's Satellites on January 8, 1610? Did Simon Marius observe Jupiter’s satellites on January 8, 1610? An exercise in computation Yaakov Zik (University of Haifa), Giora Hon (University of Haifa), and Ilan Manulis (Weizmann Institute of Science) Abstract The question, Did Simon Marius (1573‒1625) observe Jupiter’s satellites on January 8, 1610 )December 29, 1609 in the Julian calendar( is moot, for he did not disclose his research method and the instrument he used. To resolve this issue we apply astronomical codes and evaluate the visual performance of a replica of the telescope that Galileo Galilei (1564‒1642) had used. 1. Introduction The question what Simon Marius (1573‒1625) saw when he observed Jupiter’s satellites on January 8, 1610 is moot, for he did not disclose his research method and the instrument he used. We apply a methodology which depends on the application of astronomical codes and the evaluation of the visual performance of a replica of the telescope that Galileo Galilei (1564‒1642) had used. We begin with a brief account of the scene of investigation (sect. 2). We continue by sorting out the relevant facts (sect. 3). We then present the astronomical tools we apply and the results of our methodological approach (sect. 4). Finally, we discuss the solution we offer and determine our position vis-à-vis the leading question. We append the paper with the relevant calculations making them available to the interested reader. 2. The scene of investigation Simon Marius (1573‒1625) claimed to have observed Jupiter’s satellites on December 29, 1609. Marius recorded the date according to the Julian calendar (henceforth dates given in the Julian calendar will be followed by Old Style). The respective date according to the Gregorian calendar, which Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) used when he claimed to have observed Jupiter’s satellites, is 10 days later, that is, January 8, 1610. In comparison with Galileo’s detailed and systematic observational report in Sidereus nuncius, the meagre data provided by Marius makes an in-depth study of his observational report appear to be a futile task. Still, the application of astronomical codes may throw light on the differences between the two sets of data—the one of Marius and that of Galileo. Here is then a claim to be tested, given Marius’ spatial and temporal coordinates on January 8, 1610, did he observe in effect Jupiter’s satellites? A recent publication, Simon Marius and his research,1 adds new perspectives on the life and scientific work of Marius. The volume contains a complete English translation of 1 Gaab and Leich (2018). 2 Marius's Mundus iovialis anno M.DC.IX detectus ope perspicilli Belgici (1614).2 In this book Marius informed the reader that in the summer of 1609 he began observing the heavens with a telescope sent to him from Belgium. On January 8, 1610, while claiming to observe Jupiter, Marius reported that he had seen for the first time three bodies to the West of Jupiter, almost in a straight line with the planet.3 We recall that Galileo’s first observational record of Jupiter’s satellites in Sidereus nuncius is dated January 7, 1610.4 Marius’s observational report triggered therefore a heated controversy. Galileo was convinced that Marius did not observe Jupiter satellites. Moreover, Galileo thought that Marius’ careless observational reports and his lack of understanding of the physical features exhibited by the paths of the satellites around Jupiter, may suggest most probably that Marius never observed them at all.5 In a paper titled “Priority, reception, and Rehabilitation of Simon Marius: From the accusation of plagiarism to the Marius-Portal as his virtual collected works,” the author, Pierre Leich, claimed that ‟the history of science has paid little attention to Simon Marius, and he had to wait until the early twentieth century before the quality of his telescopic observations and their independence were finally proved.”6 However, two prominent historians of astronomy, Albert Van Helden and Huib Zuidervaat, cautioned that ‟the Rehabilitation of Simon Marius” should be assessed carefully. In response to Leich and others, Van Helden and Zuidervaat suggested that “clearly ... further research on Marius’s observations is needed before we can begin to speak of a Rehabilitation.”7 Here then is an issue to be decided. Here is where we enter the debate with a view to resolving it and ask first how best to proceed? 3. Sorting out the facts We proceed by exhibiting the uncontroversial historical and physical facts regarding position, time, and the available instruments, which we then presuppose in applying the simulations. We take actual observations with a similar instrument to confirm the feasibility of sighting this phenomenon. 2 Marius (1614): The World of Jupiter Discovered in the Year 1609 by Means of a Belgian Spy-glass 3 Gaab and Leich (2018, pp. 5, 19); Marius (1614, pp. 7r, 18r). 4 Galileo ([1610] 1989, p. 65); Galileo (1610, pp. 17r–18l). Galileo started recording his lunar observation on November 30, 1609. He recorded the observations of Jupiter from January 7, 1610 until March 2, 1610, less than two weeks before Sidereus nuncius was published, see, Drake (1999a, vol. 1, pp. 410–429); Gingerich and Van Helden (2003); Gingerich and Van Helden (2011). 5 Drake (1960, pp. 165–168); Favaro (1890–1909, vol. 6, pp. 215–217). Marius got a copy of Sidereus nuncius in June 1610. The first time Marius’s observations were documented in writing was in his Almanac of 1611, see, Pasachoff (2018, p. 194); Leich (2018. p. 393); Van Helden and Zuidervaart (2018, p. 415). 6 Leich (2018, p. 389): The paper covers various aspects of Marius scholarship, e.g., his telescopic observations, arguments for the Tychonic world system, a discussion dedicated to Marius’s Rehabilitation, and the foundation of Marius-Portal. 7 Van Helden and Zuidervaart (2018, p. 415). 3 3.1. The appearance of Jupiter In general, after sunset the atmosphere is partially illuminated by the sun, being neither totally dark nor completely lit. As a convention, civil twilight begins after sunset and ends when the sun is 6° below the horizon; nautical twilight begins when the sun is 6° below the horizon and ends when the sun is 12° below the horizon; the astronomical twilight begins when the sun is 12° below the horizon and ends when the sun is 18° below the horizon. On January 8, 1610, as darkness fell in Padova and Ansbach, Jupiter was already shining above the horizon crossing over between altitudes of 30° – 50° along the East–Southern sky. Assuming clear sky, cold and steady air, as well as low level of relative humidity at that time,8 Jupiter must have been bright enough to be seen at or shortly after sunset with the naked eye. The position of the Moon and its illumination may also affect the contrast of an observed object. The Moon at nautical twilight on that day was lagging about 25° to the East side of Jupiter, and its 33 arcminutes disk was 99% illuminated. However, due to the narrow field angle of Galileo’s telescope, the contrast at the very surroundings of Jupiter may not have been significantly compromised. 3.2. Galileo’s and Marius’s observational reports of January 8, 1610 Galileo’s text in Sidereus nuncius was accompanied with figures. On January 8, Galileo followed the same observational sequence he made on January 7, at the first hour of the night, On the eighth, I returned to the same observation [which Galileo made in the previous day at the first hour of the night]… I found very different arrangement. For all three little stars were to the West of Jupiter and closer to each other than the previous night, and separated by equal intervals, as shown in the adjoining sketch,9 Figure 1 Jean Meeus defined Galileo’s first hour of the night as one hour after sunset, that is, at 16:50 UT, about 8 minutes before the end of nautical twilight time in Padova.10 Marius did not provide any figure. In his Mundus iovialis he wrote, My first observation so made was on the 29 December, 1609 [old style]. On that day about 5 o’clock [local time] in the evening I saw three bodies to the West of 8 Cf., fn. 20 below. 9 Galileo ([1610] 1989, p. 65); Galileo (1610, p. 18l). The time markers Galileo referred to were the time elapsed after the very moment of sunset (ab occosu), and the hour of the night (hora noctis). 10 Meeus (1964, p. 105). Note that the time throughout the paper is denoted in UT (Universal Time) units. 4 Jupiter, almost in straight line with him. After that I made continues observations till the present time.11 Accordingly, the time of Marius’s observation in Ansbach was at 16:00 UT, about 16 minutes after sunset (15:44 UT). It is worth noting that in the early years of the seventeenth century astronomers measured the time from noon when the sun was at the local meridian. Thus, time reckoning during the day was based on the location of the sun and at night on the time elapsed from sunset or the rising of six zodiacal constellations every night which divide the night into six roughly equal parts.12 However, due to variations in the sizes and positions of the zodiacal constellations and the different seasonal hours which vary in length throughout the year, this rough method could have been trusted to within the time corrected to the nearest hour. But Marius did not report the time in this way. He used a vague term such as vesperi which indicates wide time frame stretching (at least) for about 1 hour and 11 minutes (from sunset in Ansbach to the end of the nautical twilight).
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